Ms. Arif herself is guilty of putting certain things in "neat boxes."

She is shocked that gender as "a social construct is apparently debatable." She is outraged at "refusals to admit that gender characteristics, attributes and stereotypes are the product of socialization."

Perhaps she should heed her advice and turn to science for answers.

Gerianne Alexander at Texas A&M University and Melissa Hines of the University of London found that male monkeys prefer toys that young male humans prefer and vice versa. The study was published in "Evolution and Human Behavior" in 2002. 

A female emperor penguin (empress penguin?) will try to steal a chick from other female penguin if her chicks doesn't hatch or doesn't survive. Male emperor penguins have no such tendencies.

Lions build harems and sleep all day while the females hunt and take of the cubs. The female snow leopard hunts and takes care of the cubs all alone. Polar bears do the same. A tomcat won't be caught dead taking care of his offspring.

Hundreds of such examples can be found in the animal kingdom where gender roles are defined by biology, not culture. 

That is not to say that culture does not play a significant role in defining gender role in humans. But to discard biology as a major factor is extremely "non-scientific".

Danish Ahmed